Fishing

My friends at Seven Fish recently posted a video on casting spinners for some of our put & take trout.  There are some excellent fishing tips in the video, take a few minutes and watch it! That reminded me a similar video from a few years back, and besides the spinners you can catch those trout on small crankbaits and spoons too! If I am fishing one of our put & take trout fisheries, I often start by casting and retrieve …

LINCOLN, Neb. – The stocking of rainbow trout at Ogallala and Bridgeport has been rescheduled to Oct. 23 because of equipment issues. The Rock Creek State Fish Hatchery had been scheduled to stock 600 trout at Humphrey Pond in Ogallala and 1,400 at Bridgeport State Recreation Area Northwest Pit on Oct. 22. Instead, the stocking will be delayed a day. Trout are being stocked in city ponds and lakes across the state by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission to …

Our Aquatic Habitat Rehabilitation project at Conestoga Reservoir west of Lincoln has taken a while to complete.  Ain’t no excuses for that, and in fact there is no reason to make excuses–it takes some time to move over a half-million cubic yards of sediment.  There literally are a couple of new hills that were created with all of that sediment. No, “mother nature” did not do us any favors as too much precipitation slowed progress on the project over and …

I was wondering what to blog about today, it’s Friday and you know I try to keep things “light” for the weekend. Stepped outside for a bit over the lunch hour; since our mini-ice age earlier this week, the weather has been gorgeous and many of our trees are at their fall-color peak right now. And then it hit me:  Just post some of my favorite, pretty, fall-fishing pictures. Nebraska is a great place for sunrises and sunsets, and I …

I will always tell you that if you like to fish, if you want to improve as an angler, join a fishing club!  I can think of no better way to learn, plus it is a whole lot of fun to hang out with a bunch of folks who have the same interests, and our local fishing organizations are a huge asset in supporting our fisheries and our sport! I know this is short notice, but I will be at …

I hate publishing the lists of trout stockings in spring and fall because I know plans change.  I have helped with a fish stocking or three in my career and I know that things do not always go as planned. . . . Two Omaha rainbow trout stockings rescheduled LINCOLN, Neb. – Catchable-size rainbow trout will be stocked in three Omaha waters Oct. 16. The Grove Trout Rearing Station in Antelope County will stock 450 trout at Hitchcock Park Pond, …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Catchable-size rainbow trout will be stocked in three Omaha waters Oct. 16. The Grove Trout Rearing Station in Antelope County will stock 450 trout at Hitchcock Park Pond, 300 at Towl Park Pond and 3,750 at Standing Bear Lake. The stockings at Hitchcock and Towl parks were scheduled for Oct. 15, but snow in Omaha over the weekend left the grass wet in areas where the stocking truck would have to drive. Trout are being stocked in …

Does not matter what part of Nebraska you live in, the past couple of weeks have been wet and they have been cold.  Some parts of our state have already seen significant snow.  To say we are in the middle of fall would be an understatement because the weather has been a whole lot like late fall/early winter.  If you are one of the few who has been spending some time on the water, you know the water temps. have …

Our Nebraska Game & Parks Commission fisheries professionals are always busy doing something.  Each season brings a different set of jobs and duties.  Autumn is when much of our fish population sampling is done, and our field biologists are on the water throughout the state right now.  Yes, that work goes on in the rain, sleet, snow, wind, whatever.  We do some sampling for species such as black bass and sunfish in the spring, and there are a few other …

Unfortunately, I can still close my eyes and see those fish, one was one of the biggest bass I ever hooked, the other, one of the biggest walleyes.  I had fought them to the point of getting ready to put ’em in the net and then came that one last head shake.  In slow motion I can still see the fish facing me, mouths wide open, heads swinging back and forth, and my bait flying out. “There she was. . …